for more comprehensive
ongoing reports by Retired Pastor/Teacher James McCutchan - Jmccutchan@aol.com

FORMER AP REPORTER
UNVEILS COVER-UPS, BIAS IN ISRAEL COVERAGE

Friday Church News Notes September 5, 2014 David Cloud -
A seasoned reporter and editor with four years experience with
the Associated Presss Jerusalem bureau, who self-describes
as a liberal, has had the courage to tell the truth
about mainstream coverage of the Palestinian-Israel
conflict. Matti Friedmans Insiders Guide to the Most
Important Story on Earth, published by The Tablet on August
26, is a fascinating glimpse, from a secular viewpoint, into
current events prophesied in Scripture and explained only by
Scripture. Friedmans report documents the widespread pro-Palestinian,
anti-Israel sentiment among reporters. He describes it as a
hostile obsession with Jews ... among those who populate the
news industry. The Bible describes it like this: And
thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among
all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee (Deut. 28:37).
God warned Israel that if she rejected His law, He would reject
her and evict her from the land and send her into the nations
where she would experience bitter persecution. This was prophesied
by Moses in Deuteronomy 28 in about 1450 BC before Israel had
even entered the land under the leadership of Joshua.

Friedmans report documents the fact that the Israel
story takes up vastly more reporting resources than any
other world story. Friedman says the news agencies believe
Israel to be the most important story on earth, or very close.
The Bible describes it like this: Thus saith the Lord GOD;
This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations
and countries that are round about her (Ezek. 5:5). God
chose Israel as the instrument of His self-revelation to mankind,
and Israel will continued to be the most important story
on earth for a very long time!

Friedmans report documents the extreme, unconscionable
bias of not reporting on the corruption and inbred hatred of
the Palestinians. He says, If you follow mainstream
coverage, you will find nearly no real analysis of Palestinian
society or ideologies, profiles of armed Palestinian groups,
or investigation of Palestinian government. ... The Hamas charter,
for example, calls not just for Israels destruction but
for the murder of Jews and blames Jews for engineering the French
and Russian revolutions and both world wars; the charter was
never mentioned in print when I was at the AP, though Hamas won
a Palestinian national election and had become one of the regions
most important players (Insiders Guide to the Most
Important Story on Earth). The Bible describes the reason
for this amazing duplicity in mainstream news reporting as follows:
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
(Eph. 2:2). The devil is in control of this present world. He
hates Israel, and unbelievers are his instruments. He worketh
in them.

Friedmans report documents the fact that Israel is
a fragile island in a vast ocean of hatred. He describes it as
follows: A knowledgeable observer of the Middle East cannot
avoid the impression that the region is a volcano and that the
lava is radical Islam, an ideology whose various incarnations
are now shaping this part of the world. ISRAEL IS A TINY VILLAGE
ON THE SLOPES OF THE VOLCANO (Insiders Guide to the
Most Important Story on Earth). The reason why Israel has
not been destroyed after 2,000 years of wandering and the reason
why the modern state of Israel has not been destroyed though
outrageously outnumbered and outgunned is described by the Bible
as follows: And it shall come to pass, when all these things
are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have
set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the
nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt
return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according
to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy
God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and
will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the
LORD thy God hath scattered thee (Deut. 30:1-3). God promised
to keep Israel in her 2,000-year-old dispersion and to bring
her back to her land. This is beginning to be fulfilled, and
though Israel must still go through a lot of trouble because
of her unbelief, nothing can destroy her.

Friedman concludes his analysis of mainstream news coverage
of Israel as follows: Many of the people deciding what
you will read and see from here view their role not as explanatory
but as political. Coverage is a weapon to be placed at the disposal
of the side they like. Full report: http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/15_36.php

-----

"CITY ON THE HILL", NEW ZION PROMISED LAND
Why is there Death and Slaughter going on in the Ukraine?
Radical Zionist sect Chabad seeks to to move to Ukraine from
the USA that the sect has already milked dry.

They want to build in Ukraine a "City on the Hill",
preventively destroying the local population just in case

On May 6, 2014, the deputy head of Dnipropetrovsk, B. Filatov
announced a sensation - the project "Jewish Kiev":
What to do with those who sincerely desire the death of my country,
with the enchanting Russian idiots who really do not understand
why we are ready to kill them, with vile Russian journalists
whom we can't call humans?
With all this host of evil?
Tomorrow is a new day and the Sun will rise. But what will all
this evil do?

We must build a new country - "City on the Hill",
New Zion. Promised Land.

Through his subordinate, Ukrainian oligarch I. Kolomoyski
voiced his and Dnepropetrovsk Chabad's ultimate goal:
to build in Ukraine a new state, the promised land (sic), the
new Zion.

Has God promised a new promised land? It already exists [according
to the Jew] - in Israel.
Another Promised Land cannot be, but Dnepropetrovsk Chabad and
Kolomoyski, who finances and directs (not the head of the [Ukrainian
security] SBU, Nalyvaichenko) fascist punitive operation in Donetsk
and Lugansk, are trying to make Ukraine over into a promised
land.

Moreover, on Purim (March 16, 2014; date chosen to hit the
Ukrainian Chabad as much as possible), when the autonomy referendum
was held in Crimea, Rabbi of Dnepropetrovsk Shmuel Kaminetski
said:

"We have lived together with the Ukrainians for 1000
years. Ukraine is our Land. Today we will read the scroll of
Esther, as we have done over thousands of years on Purim. Today's
reading is particularly important. Today, a new Aman, our common
enemy with the Ukrainians, is very near. The mention of Aman
dwarfs the joke of 1,000 years together.
Who is this new Aman?

In the broad sense, it is Russia and Russians, and more specifically
- President Vladimir Putin whose plans thwart Chabad - Lubavitch's
new Zion in Ukraine. The loss of Crimea hurt the plot by Kolomoyski
and his US backers led by the largest and most influential Chabad
community in New York. Continued:

'I have never seen such a supernatural revival as is happening
right now'
Published: 9.20.2014 - By Seth Johnson - Jacob had been living
in fear for years of the persecution that would follow if he
accepted Jesus as Messiah of the Jews.
A student of the Torah who studied under a respected Israeli
teacher, the late Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, Jacob resisted salvation
in Christ until he saw a movie about the revered rabbis
discovery of Jesus.
Jacob explains he just couldnt shake what was happening
in his spirit while watching the documuntary The Rabbi
Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies
of the Endtime.
I heard the Shofar blowing while I was watching the DVD
and reading the Word, Jacob testifies. The Holy Spirit
hit me like lightning.
Discover The Rabbi Who Found Messiah, the movie and
the book, bundled together at the WND Superstore!
Zev Porat, who shared the documentary  based on a book
of the same name by American Pastor Carl Gallups  with
Jacob and Jews all across Israel, describes what he calls the
Kaduri Revival.
This amazing book is leading people to the written word
of God. The Holy Spirit is opening their eyes to the truth of
salvation available only through Messiah Yeshua, he says.
Porat, founder of Messiah of Israel Ministries, was captivated
by Gallups story of Israels most venerated spiritual
leader, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, who died at the age of 108 in 2006
and left behind a letter with instructions to open it one year
after his death.
That letter has been the catalyst for the Kaduri Revival
in Israel, but it has also been the catalyst for increased persecution
of those who place their faith in Christ.
But instead of retaliating against those who persecute his Christian
brethren, Porat says, I blessed them in the name of Yeshua,
and I will not stop preaching the gospel no matter what. What
then shall we say to these? If God is for us, who is against
us? Continued: http://www.wnd.com/2014/09/fires-of-salvation-sweep-through-israel

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PA UNIVERSITY EJECTS LEFTIST JOURNALIST FOR BEING JEWISH
Veteran Haaretz journalist Amira Hass left offended by discrimination
at pro-Palestinian conference in Birzeit University.
By Nir Har-Zahav and Tova Dvorin - First Publish: 9/28/2014,
11:48 AM
A Haaretz reporter was ejected from a pro-Palestinian conference
at Birzeit University on Saturday, reporter Amira Hass said -
simply for being an Israeli Jew.

Hass attempted to attend the "Alternatives to Neo-Liberal
Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories  Critical
Perspectives" conference at the university, which is located
near Ramallah where she lives.

But she was ejected from the hall by the organizers, Hass
claimed, after students at the admission desk noted she worked
for the Israeli publication and alerted security authorities
to intervene.

Birzeit University has had a policy of barring Israeli Jews
from the campus for over 20 years, administrators said, and ejected
her for fear that she would be attacked by an unruly mob of students.

Hass was not assaulted by Palestinian Arab students at the
conference, she noted, but rumors did surface shortly afterwards
of such a confrontation.

Her colleagues and professors told her that she was being
ejected on the one hand "for her own protection" and
also to give the students "a safe space" free of Jews.

Meanwhile, the University has officially denied that there
was a problem.

"The administration has no objection to the presence
of the journalist [Amira] Hass," it insisted, in an official
statement. "The University distinguishes between friends
of the Palestinian people and its enemies ... and works with
every person and institution who opposes the occupation."
Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185540

 Mr. Abbas delivered a bridge-burning speech to
the U.N. General Assembly mendaciously accusing Israel
of a new war of genocide and declaring that a return
to negotiations was impossible. 

Impossible is what Abbas seemed to be making of any potential
peace agreement with Israel. His accusations and distortions
echoed the rhetoric sometimes employed by his predecessor, Palestinian
Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. Arafat, of course,
rejected two-state proposals made by U.S. President Bill Clinton
and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack in 2000 and 2001, resorting
instead to the terrorism of the second intifada. Of Abbas, The
Post editorial noted:

 he has now rejected platforms for a settlement
on two occasions from two U.S. presidents [George W. Bush and
Barack Obama]. He persists in grandstanding gestures that he
must know will only delay the serious negotiations that must
precede the creation of a Palestinian state 

The Post lamented Abbas rejection of Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations as the path to a two-state peace agreement and his
intention to have Israel investigated for alleged war crimes
by the International Criminal Court.

Other commentary in addition to The Washington Post's took
note of Abbas bridge-burning. Dror Eydar in Israel Hayom,
quoted Abbas, noting that toward the end of his speech,
this so-called moderate partner asserted that what had caused
terrorism in our region was  get ready  international
leniency toward Israel. He then discussed the Islamic State group
[also known as the Islamic State in the Levant or the Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria], saying: Confronting the terrorism
that plagues our region by groups such as ISIL and others that
have no basis whatsoever in the tolerant Islamic religion or
with humanity and are committing brutal and heinous atrocities
requires much more than military confrontation. ... It requires,
in this context and as a priority, bringing an end to the Israeli
occupation of our country, which constitutes in its practices
and perpetuation, an abhorrent form of state terrorism and a
breeding ground for incitement, tension, and hatred 
(Abbas incites and were to blame?, Sept. 29,
2014) Continued:

Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri, a former Shin
Bet chief, said he's surprised by Sisi's generosity, calling
the proposal "worth discussing seriously." On Monday,
Army Radio reported that Sisi had offered Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas 1,600 square kilometers in Sinai to expand
the Gaza Strip to five times its current size. According to the
plan, the territory would serve as a Palestinian state under
the complete control of the PA.

The new territory, composed of Gaza together with the extra
land in Sinai, would be a demilitarized state that would serve
as a home to which Palestinian refugees could return.

In addition to the "Greater Gaza State," the cities
currently in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank would
be under the autonomous rule of the PA. In exchange, Abbas would
give up claims to a state within the pre-1967 lines.
The proposal, which was reported previously in the Arab media
last week as having been offered by a senior Egyptian official,
but not specifically Sisi, was rejected outright by Abbas. Peri
asked several questions arising from the Egyptian proposal in
an interview with Army Radio: "What will happen to Judea
and Samaria? What will be with Jerusalem? The idea that major
cities in Judea and Samaria will have autonomy is vague; everyone
can understand it in a different way." Continued: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israeli-politicians-praise-Sisi-plan-to-

give-Palestinians-land-for-a-state-in-Sinai-374745

----

ATTACKING HAMAS IN GAZA: WHAT IF ISRAEL FOLLOWED US POLICIES?

October 1, 2014 by Alex Safian, PhD - US defends strikes
that killed civilians in Syria. United States strikes against
Islamic State and other terror groups in Syria have apparently
killed and wounded innocent civilians in the towns of Manbij
and Kfar Daryan.

When asked to explain how this could have happened, in light
of strict and widely publicized US rules of engagement that seem
to require "near certainty that non-combatants will not
be injured or killed," NSA spokesperson Caitlin Hayden clarified
that:

The "near certainty" standard was intended to apply
"only when we take direct action outside areas of
active hostilities,' as we noted at the time," Hayden said
in an email. "That description  outside areas of active
hostilities  simply does not fit what we are seeing on
the ground in Iraq and Syria right now."

The reality of the US conduct in these strikes, together
with Hayden's statement, confirms the assertion below that the
very strict US rules of engagement don't actually apply in most
cases, including those that are similar to what Israel faces
in fighting terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

In Gaza Israel has often issued warnings before launching
its attacks, but has still faced harsh criticism from the US.
But the reality is that the US has not warned anyone before launching
its own attacks in Syria and Iraq, thereby employing far looser
rules of engagement than Israel.
Originally posted Sept. 2, 2014
Israel has been accused of using disproportionate and excessive
force, and of killing large numbers of civilians in Gaza, while
trying to stop Hamas "militants" who have been targeting
Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets and mortars, and
who have also infiltrated into Israel via dozens of tunnels.
The US State Department even referred to one (alleged) Israeli
strike in Gaza as "appalling" and "disgraceful."

What the United States or other Western democracies would
do in a similar situation is purely speculative, since none of
these countries have recently been rocketed by a neighboring
country, or even face the prospect of their civilians being directly
targeted in such a way. Continued:

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=2&x_article=2826

-----

A "CAPTIVE MOUTHPIECE" DEMONIZES ISRAEL

September 29, 2014 by Dexter Van Zile - Note: The following
piece appeared at The Gatestone Institute on Aug. 31, 2014. At
the height of the Cold War, under the watchful eye of a KGB handler,
the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Yehuda Levin, visited the United States
in 1968 and told audiences that everything was fine for Jews
living under Soviet rule. Russian antisemitism was a thing of
the past, he said, and Jews played a prominent role in the life
of the USSR, having the same rights as other nationalities under
Soviet rule. Complaints about the mistreatment of Jews behind
the Iron Curtain, Levin reported, were made by people just trying
to cause trouble.

Although activists struggling to help Jews escape from the
Soviet Union were outraged by Rabbi Levin's remarks, no one really
took what Rabbi Levin said seriously. His audiences understood
that Rabbi Levin, his family, and the community he led were under
constant surveillance by the KGB and that if he had spoken openly
about the suffering Jews endured under Soviet rule, they would
pay a terrible price.

They also understood that any type of Jewish community in
Moscow was a miracle and Levin had to say nice things about the
Soviets for this community to survive. Everyone knew that Jews
had it rough in the USSR and that the efforts to get them out
needed to continue regardless of what Levin said to his audiences
in the U.S. You didn't need a college degree to recognize that
Levin was, in the words of the historian Rafael Medoff, "a
captive mouthpiece for Soviet propaganda."

The controversy surrounding Rabbi Levin's visit to the United
States provides crucial insight -- and contrast -- into how to
interpret an interview with Rev. Hanna Massad recently published
on the website ofChristianity Today, a magazine that caters to
Evangelical Protestants in the United States.

During the course of the interview, Massad did exactly what
he had to do to protect his fellow Christians from increased
harassment by the jihadists who run the Gaza Strip.

Massad, the former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church (and who
now lives in Jordan), exaggerated the number of civilian deaths
caused by Israel, blamed the Jewish state for Palestinian suffering
and offered not a word of criticism for Hamas. All these things
he said under the guise of offering words of peace. Continued:

September 17, 2014 by Dexter Van Zile - Drew Christiansen,
S.J., former editor of the Jesuit-founded magazine, America and
Palestinian writer Ra'fat Aldajani co-authored a blog entry at
the National Catholic Reporter's website that shamefully misleads
readers about the population of Christians in the Holy Land.

In their Sept. 16, 2014 piece on the appearance of Sen. Ted
Cruz at the In Defense of Christians' gala dinner that sparked
a huge controversy last week, the authors state the following:

The insensitivity of the event's planners to Israel's role
in Christians' disappearance from the Holy Land was underscored
by the late inclusion of Rateb Rabie, president of the Holy Land
Christian Ecumenical Foundation -- of which one of the authors
of this blog post, Fr. Drew Christiansen, is a co-founder --
to speak on behalf of Palestinian Christians. Rabie noted how
the percentage of Christians in contemporary Israel has declined
from 20 percent of the population at the time of Israel's founding
to 1.5 percent today. (Emphasis added.)

In the paragraph quoted above, the authors talk about the
disappearance of Christians in the Holy Land and to buttress
this point, they then invoke a decline in the percentage of Christians
as part of Israel's total population.

The paragraph quoted above is simply deceptive and unworthy
of a blog entry co-authored by journalists, one of whom is a
Jesuit priest and a professor of ethics.

Here's why: The population of Christians in Israel has not
disappeared as Father Christiansen and Aldajani report.

Instead, the population of Christians has increased substantially

If Father Christiansen and Mr. Aldajani had given the actual
numbers of Christians in that country (instead of trafficking
in percentages), their readers would know this.

Yes, the percentage of Christians as a total of the overall
population has declined since Israel's founding, but only because
the population of Jews and Muslims has increased much faster
than the Christian population has increased.

In the years after Israel's founding, there were approximately
34,000 Christians living in the Jewish state, the vast majority
of them Arabs. Today there are between 120,000 and 130,000 Arab
Christians living in Israel. This is a substantial increase of
well over 200 percent, the likes of which one simply does not
see anywhere else in the Middle East.

As stated in this CAMERA article, According to the
Statistical Abstract of Israel for 2013, there were 1.1 million
Jews and 113,800 Muslims living in Israel in 1950. At the end
of 2012, there wereapproximately 5.9 million Jews and 1.4 million
Muslims living in the country. (The population of the two groups
increased by 430 and 1074 percent respectively.)

The article continues:

These numbers go a long ways toward explaining why a fast
growing Christian population is declining as a proportion of
Israel's total population. As fast growing as it is, the two
other groups in the country, are growing at an even faster rate.
This does not mean, however, that Christians are in decline in
the Jewish state.

How can Christiansen and Aldajani honestly talk to their
readers about the disappearance of Christians from
the Holy Land when the numbers demonstrate otherwise?

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=45&x_article=2839

-----

PRO-CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE DESCENDS INTO ANTI-ISRAEL BIGOTRY

September 15, 2014 by Dexter Van Zile

Note: The following piece appeared in The Algemeiner on September
11, 2014 - Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got a heavy dose of Middle
Eastern hospitality during his keynote address at the gala dinner
hosted by In Defense of Christians on Wednesday night [Sept.
10, 2014].

When the senator stated an obvious fact  that the same
people who murder Christians in the Middle East also hate America,
Jews and Israel  gala attendees erupted in protest, booed
the senator, a well-known proponent of Christian rights and religious
freedom in the Middle East, and called on him to leave the stage.

Cruz acceded to their request, but not before giving a blistering
retort to their hostility: If you will not stand with Israel
and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Good night and
God bless.

Audio of Cruz's speech, and of the angry response it elicited,
can be found at the Assyrian International News Agency's website
here. Video of the confrontation can be seen here.

The debacle is clearly an embarrassment for the newly founded
organization, In Defense of Christians. After the confrontation,
Sen. Cruz's office issued a statement that lamented how an event
intended to promote unity deteriorated into a shameful
display of bigotry and hatred.

I told the attendees that those who hate Israel also
hate America, that those who hate Jews also hate Christians,
and that anyone who hates Israel and the Jewish people is not
following the teachings of Christ, Cruz said in the statement,
adding that he had no choice but to leave after seeing the hostility
that was on display.

In response to the debacle, In Defense of Christians issued
a statement from its President Toufic Baaklini that seemed to
obliquely condemn Sen. Cruz for injecting politics
into the conference agenda, which momentarily played into
the hands of a few people who do not adhere to IDC's principles.
The controversy was caused by some gatecrashers to
the $175 a plate dinner, the IDC tried to suggest.

At every wedding, there are a few problems, the
statement read. In this case, a few politically motivated
opportunists chose to divide a room that for more than 48 hours
sought unity in opposing the shared threat of genocide, faced
not only by our Christian brothers and sisters, but our Jewish
brothers and sisters and people of all other faiths and all people
of good will.(A phone call to the IDC spokesperson has
gone un-returned.) Continued:

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=45&x_article=2845

-----

HAS PRO-CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE BEEN HIJACKED BY PRO-IRAN/HEZBOLLAH
DHIMMIS?

September 11, 2014 by Dexter Van Zile

Note: The following piece appeared in The Algemeiner on Sept.
9, 2014. A group of Christian activists in the United States
is warning that an upcoming summit about Christianity in the
Middle East is not what it appears to be.

The summit, organized by a newly formed group called "In
Defense of Christians," may look like a pro-Christian conference
intended to promote the cause of religious freedom in the Middle
East.

But according to some, the event organizers are using massacres
and expulsions of Christians and Yazidis by Sunni extremists
in Syria and Iraq in order to promote the interests of Iran and
its Mideast clients  the Assad regime in Syria and Hezbollah
in Lebanon.

This warning has been offered by the Middle East Christian
Committee (MECHRIC), a consortium of activists from the Assyrian,
Syriac, Chaldead, Maronite, Coptic, and Melkite groups in the
United States.

MECHRIC warns that In Defense of Christians (IDC) is not
playing it straight with the American public in its activism.
MECHRIC says that instead of promoting the cause of religious
freedom, the organization is using Sunni violence against Christians
to promote support for Assad in Syria and normalization with
the Mullahs in Iran  even if they're not aware of it.

Most of the people involved in the Conference (which opens
today in Washington, D.C., and runs until Thursday) are sincere,
reports John Hajjar, a member of MECHRIC's executive committee.
"However, the AmeriV 1292can public must be informed,"
he says. "While the narrative of the IDC is directed at
ISIS violence, the conference is, intentionally or not, profiting
the Iranian and Syrian regimes and Hezbollah."

Hajjar admits that the charge is a stunning one, but asserts
that the pattern of evidence supports the allegation.

In Defense of Christians has been particularly aggressive
in drawing attention to the misdeeds of ISIS in Syria and Iraq,
but has been relatively quiet about the abuse and murder of Christians
by Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, he says.

"No Middle East Christians opposed to Iran, Assad, and
Hezbollah will be speaking [at the conference]," he said.

On this score, the evidence seems to support Hajjar's concerns.
In Defense of Christians' website initially made no mention of
the well-known abuse of Christians and other religious minorities
in Iran, which is regarded as one of the most repressive regimes
in the world. Continued:

RAMALLAH, West Bank  The Palestinian unity government
will hold its first Cabinet meeting in Gaza this week, a key
step toward taking charge of reconstruction efforts in the war-battered
territory, a senior official said Monday.

The Cabinet will convene Thursday, said Deputy Prime Minister
Mohammed Mustafa, three days before an international pledging
conference where the Palestinian government will seek $4 billion
in aid for Gaza, hit hard in a 50-day war this summer between
Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Donor countries view the unity government of independent
experts, led by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, as key to any reconstruction plans. Hamas, which is shunned
as a terrorist group by the international community, has governed
Gaza for the past seven years.

The purpose of the Gaza meeting is to "see the situation
on the ground and to send a message to the donors' conference
that the government is ready to start reconstruction soon,"
Mustafa told The Associated Press.

Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, prompting a border
closure of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, enforced to varying degrees
over the past seven years. After Egypt tightened the closure
last year and stepped up its destruction of cross-border smuggling
tunnels, Hamas began experiencing severe financial difficulties
that made it increasingly difficult for the group to govern.
Continued:

Veteran Haaretz journalist Amira Hass left offended by discrimination
at pro-Palestinian conference in Birzeit University.
By Nir Har-Zahav and Tova Dvorin - First Publish: 9/28/2014,
11:48 AM - A Haaretz reporter was ejected from a pro-Palestinian
conference at Birzeit University on Saturday, reporter Amira
Hass said - simply for being an Israeli Jew.

Hass attempted to attend the "Alternatives to Neo-Liberal
Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories  Critical
Perspectives" conference at the university, which is located
near Ramallah where she lives.

But she was ejected from the hall by the organizers, Hass
claimed, after students at the admission desk noted she worked
for the Israeli publication and alerted security authorities
to intervene.

Birzeit University has had a policy of barring Israeli Jews
from the campus for over 20 years, administrators said, and ejected
her for fear that she would be attacked by an unruly mob of students.

Hass was not assaulted by Palestinian Arab students at the
conference, she noted, but rumors did surface shortly afterwards
of such a confrontation.

Her colleagues and professors told her that she was being
ejected on the one hand "for her own protection" and
also to give the students "a safe space" free of Jews.

Meanwhile, the University has officially denied that there
was a problem.

"The administration has no objection to the presence
of the journalist [Amira] Hass," it insisted, in an official
statement. "The University distinguishes between friends
of the Palestinian people and its enemies ... and works with
every person and institution who opposes the occupation."
Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185540

-----

ISIS CAUSED ONE BOMB TO GO OFF ON ISRAELI SIDE OF THE BORDER

Published on Oct 9, 2014 - Live footage taken on the Israeli,
Syrian Border by Israeli News Live. Earlier today Fighting continues
with Bashar Assad's Forces and ISIS south of Damascus with one
bomb going off on the Israeli side of the border. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk64b2NDybo&list=UU3q-ByZ2eoOikcEiajMYXXA

-----

LAURENT FABIUS THREATENS ISRAEL WITH CONCLUSIONS BEING DRAWN,
PARTICULARLY WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION

la-france-et-israel/evenements-18934/article/israel-declaration-de-laurent
(Translated from French) We gravely condemn the Israeli authorities'
decision to approve the construction of 2,610 homes in Givat
Hamatos. If this decision is upheld, it would mark the creation
of a new settlement for the first time in over fifteen years
in East Jerusalem. This announcement directly threatens the two-state
solution and the vocation of
Jerusalem to be the capital of both states at a time when all
efforts should converge towards peace.

We urge the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision.
One cannot claim to advocate a solution and at the same time
act against it, without any conclusions being drawn, particularly
within the European Union.

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U.S. HOUSE MEMBERS SAY BE HARDER ON IRAN

October 03, 2014 Excerpts: U.S. SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 3
Oct.14: U.D.House members press Kerry on nulear talks
with Iran, By Patricia Zengerle, Reuters SUBJECT:US House
of Representatives members say be harder on Iran QUOTE:Four-fifths
of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter to Secretary
of State John Kerry - - - to lean harder on Iran

FULL TEXT: Three hundred and fifty-four members - four-fifths
- of the U.S. House of Representatives signed the letter sent
to Secretary of State John Kerry. Hundreds of U.S. lawmakers
pressed Secretary of State John Kerry to lean harder on Iran
in talks over its nuclear program in a letter released on Thursday[2
Oct.] after Israel warned Washington not to go easy on Tehran.

Three hundred and fifty-four members - four-fifths - of the
U.S. House of Representatives signed the letter sent to Kerry
on Wednesday night, expressing concerns that an agreement on
Irans nuclear program might not require sufficiently strict
inspections of its nuclear facilities.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sept. 5 that Iran had failed
to address concerns about suspected atomic bomb research by an
agreed deadline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President
Barack Obama on Wednesday[1 Oct.] that he must make sure any
final nuclear deal with Iran does not leave it at the threshold
of being able to develop nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu has been attempting to shift the global spotlight
away from Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria and back to
Iran, warning that a nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater
threat than the militant Islamists.

On Thursday[2 Oct.] Netanyahu voiced doubts that his talks
with Obama would lead to a tougher U.S. line.

Both of us want to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon. But I say that is not enough. You want to prevent it
from (being able to) develop a nuclear weapon in a short term,
of weeks or months. What is called breakout time, Netanyahu
said in an interview with Israels Channel 10 television.

Asked whether he was encouraged about the issue
of preventing Iran from achieving break-out capability after
meeting Obama, Netanyahu answered: I cannot say that. I
can only say that I expressed the things important to Israel
and Israels security.

Although Israel backs Obamas efforts to forge a coalition
to confront Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters, some Israelis
fear world powers could go easy on Shiite Muslim Irans
nuclear program so it will help in the fight against the Sunni
Islamists.

Iran and six world powers are expected to meet again for
nuclear talks in Europe in the next two weeks, Iranian and Western
officials said. Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=65053

FULL TEXT:'Foreign fighters have never entered Syria from
our country,' Erdogan said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
demanding an apology from the U.S. vice president, denying he
had told the U.S. official Turkey had made mistakes in terms
of its border policy allowing foreign fighters to enter Syria.

Erdogan on Saturday[4 Oct.] denied ever saying that and told
reporters in Istanbul that Joe Biden will be history for
me if he has indeed used such expressions.

Responding to questions following his speech at the Harvard
Kennedy School on Thursday [2Oct], Biden described Erdogan
as an old friend. Biden added: He [Erdogan]
said: You were right. We let too many people through.
Now theyre trying to seal their border.

Erdogan said: I have never said to him that we had
made a mistake, never. If he did say this at Harvard then he
has to apologize to us.

The spat comes as Turkey, a NATO ally, is expected to define
the role it will play in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants who have captured a
swath of Iraq and Syria, in some cases right up to the Turkish
border.

This week Turkeys parliament approved a motion giving
the government powers for military operations across the border
in Syria and Iraq and for foreign troops to use Turkeys
territory.

Foreign fighters have never entered Syria from our
country. They may come to our country as tourists and cross into
Syria, but no one can say that they cross in with their arms,
Erdogan said.

Erdogan defended Ankaras border policy, saying Turkey
had prevented 6,000 suspected militants from entering the country
and deported another 1,000.

Biden said that our biggest problem is our allies
in responding to the civil war in Syria.

(With AP) http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=65055

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SAUDI REGIME ALARMED OVER DISCLOSURE OF CLOSE TIES WITH ISRAEL

Oct 04, 2014 11:47 EXCLUSIVE: TEHRAN (FNA Fars News Agency)-
Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulaziz bin Abdullah voiced concern
about the disclosure of the close relations between Riyadh and
Tel Aviv, specially when Muslims from across the world are in
Saudi Arabia for Hajj rituals.

"After a meeting between Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi
Livni, also a former foreign minister, with Saudi Prince Turki
bin Faisal al-Saud in New York on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly meeting late September, and given the decreasing influence
of Riyadh in the region and among the Muslims, Abdulaziz bin
Abdullah expressed dire concern about the disclosure of the close
relations with Tel Aviv, specially when a large number of Muslims
have gathered in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for Hajj
rituals," an informed source told FNA.

According to the report, in a secret meeting between a close
advisor to Abdulaziz bin Abdullah and Saudi Interior Minister
Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, the two sides discussed the serious
challenges facing Saudi Arabia in the near future.

"At the start of the meeting, the representative of
Abdulaziz bin Abdullah elaborated on the meetings between certain
high-ranking Saudi officials, specially Turki bin Faisal, and
Zionist officials, mostly held in Aqaba port, in which Riyadh
undertook some commitments," the source who called for anonymity
due to security concerns, said.

The source quoted Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud as saying
that the most important subjects raised during the meeting between
the Saudi and Israeli officials included

1. Strengthening cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel
in defeating the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,

2. All-out cooperation to prevent a nuclear deal between
Iran and the West in a way that Tehran's relations with the western
states will be experience serious trouble and lead the nuclear
talks to a failure,

3. Finding new ways to accelerate and facilitate economic,
political and foreign policy relations between Israel and Saudi
Arabia,

4. Given the existence of differences between Saudi Arabia
and Qatar on the political, territorial, economic and regional
issues, Israel undertook to support Riyadh's stances and force
Qatar to accept the preconditions of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and
the UAE for ending the existing conflicts, and

5. During the meeting between Turki al-Faisal and Tzipi Livni
in New York, Saudi Arabia has presented a dual-track approach
to play with Iran which started with Turki al-Faisal's meeting
with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York.
Continued: http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930712000328

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HAMAS: RULING WEST BANK IT COULD DESTROY ISRAEL

PMW Bulletin Oct. 5, 2014 Hamas leader Al-Zahar: If Hamas
were to transfer "what it has [in Gaza] or just a small
part of it to the West Bank" it would destroy Israel "with
a speed that no one can imagine." "We will build an
Islamic state in Palestine, all of Palestine" New Poll:
Hamas leader Haniyeh would defeat Abbas in elections in both
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Haniyeh - 55%, Abbas - 38% by
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=12815

Last week, Hamas Political Bureau member Mahmoud Al-Zahar
stated that Hamas wants to build an Islamic state in all of Palestine,
meaning it would replace Israel: "[Some] have said Hamas
wants to create an Islamic emirate in Gaza. We won't do that,
but we will build an Islamic state in Palestine, all of Palestine."
[Al-Ayyam, Oct. 1, 2014]

Al-Zahar further said that if Hamas had a military foothold
in the West Bank as it does in the Gaza Strip it would be able
to destroy Israel. He alluded to a possible future war of destruction
against Israel by citing a Surah from the Quran about "the
final promise", which speaks of destroying "the enemies"
and "what they had taken over with [total] destruction"
[Surah 17:7]:

"Al-Zahar said that if his movement [Hamas] were to
'transfer what it has or just a small part of it to the West
Bank, we would be able to settle the battle of the final promise
with a speed that no one can imagine.'"

His expression "The final promise" is taken from
Surah 17:7 of the Quran: "Then when the final promise came,
[We sent your enemies]... to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as
they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had
taken over with [total] destruction.'" (trans. Sahih International)
Hamas using it in the context of Israel is promising a future
war of destruction against Israel.

A recent Palestinian poll shows that Hamas indeed has a strong
base of support in the West Bank. Last week, the Palestinian
Center for Policy and Research found that were elections to be
held now between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh would win with 55% support compared to
38% for Abbas. Interestingly, Haniyeh would win with only 50%
- 47% in Gaza but on the West Bank Hamas' Haniyeh is even stronger
winning 57% to 33% over Abbas:

"If new presidential elections are held today and only
two were nominated, Ismail Haniyeh [of Hamas] and Mahmoud Abbas,
the former [Haniyeh] would win a majority of 55% (compared to
61% a month ago) and the latter 38% (compared to 32% a month
ago). Votes for Abbas and Haniyeh are close in the Gaza Strip
with the former receiving 47% and the latter 50%. In the West
Bank, Abbas receives 33% and Haniyeh 57%." [http://www.pcpsr.org/en/node/496]
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=65070

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KING ABDULLAH: WE WILL ERADICATE TERRORISM, RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Mina, Asharq Al-AwsatSaudi
Arabia remains committed to the fight against terrorism and religious
extremism in all their forms until these phenomena are eradicated,
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Saudi King Abdullah Bin
Abdulaziz, said on Sunday.

We will not rest until we eradicate this phenomenon
[terrorism and religious extremism] and this group [terrorist
or extremist groups] which has strayed from the path and which
has used the Islamic religion as a bridge to cross in order to
get to its own personal goals, King Abdullah said, in a
speech addressed to the Islamic world and given on his behalf
by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Crown Prince Salman
Bin Abdulaziz at a gathering of Muslim leaders in Mina to mark
this years Hajj pilgrimage.

He added: This needs concerted efforts from all of
us to fight and defeat [terrorism and religious extremism] .
. . It is like a diseased organ; the only way to defeat it is
to amputate it. We are striving without rest to eradicate it
with help from the Almighty. Continued: http://www.aawsat.net/2014/10/article55337252

Presidency Warns against Israeli Plan to Allocate Gates for
Jews to enter al-Aqsa Mosque [IMRA: It isn't into the Mosque
building]

CAIRO, October 7, 2014 (WAFA - PLO news agency)  Palestinian
presidency warned on Monday against the repercussions of remarks
made by Israeli Minister of Tourism, in which she highlighted
Israeli plans to allocate special gates for Jews to enter al-Aqsa
mosque.

The presidency said these remarks are flatly rejected, considering
the move a unilateral one that could undermine any chances for
peace, adding that the holy sites in Jerusalem are a red
line that cannot be crossed.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Jews in NYC plan massive protest
against anti-Semitic opera. Please distribute this and support
this effort 100-Wheelchair Caravan to demonstrate against the
Metropolitan Opera for glorifying terrorism in its production
of "The Death of Klinghoffer" Monday, October 20th,
6 PM The Met Opera House at Lincoln Center, Broadway and West
65th Street For poster http://bit.ly/1uzGNVV